Biographies
Enna Siannodel (Ranger - Hunter) Bryn Siannodel was born into a tribe of Wood Elves in the village of Rowan Oake, deep in the forests north of the Steel Mountains. There she was raised communally, as all children of the tribe, and taught that the good of the tribe was the ultimate good, whatever the cost. She was taught to worship Paragon, and to a lesser extent the Green Man. One day Bryn went hunting alone in the forests for food for her village in preparation for a feast to Paragon. When she returned home with her game slung over her petite shoulders, she found her village ransacked and burned, with little more than ash and bone remaining. Her people had all been killed or taken prisoner. She suspected the Orcs driven down from the North, but never found out for certain. In her grief, she declared herself an adult at the age of 105, took the name Enna, and vowed to honor and perhaps avenge her tribe if she could. She left the ruins of her home and went wandering south through the mountains, surviving alone for 3 years until she came upon young Lia, an outcast Wood Elf who was not surviving well on her own. Longing for the forgotten bonds of tribe and family, Enna took Lia to her side, and treated her as a sister. The two wandered together out of the mountains farther south and happened upon a trade route. They followed the route to Yohnber, where the kind humans of the village employed them as protectors and gave them food, shelter, and a purpose in life again. Enna Siannodel now swears her allegiance to the Brush Striders, and would be lost without her wolf companion, Brienne. (Character Stats) Daos Ulfberth (Fighter - Battlemaster) Orphaned at an early age, Daos spent his childhood on the streets of Proximuma. After years of constant trouble with authorities, he was arrested at the age of ten for vandalizing a local shop. Instead of throwing him into the local boy's home, the commander of the City Watch, Darvin, took pity on Daos and sent him to be an apprentice with the town's blacksmith, Master Jaichim. With his new mentor Daos began to flourish and took quickly to learning his new craft. During the off hours Jaichim trained Daos to use the weapons he helped to create in an effort to channel the young man's anger. For seven years Daos lived with Jaichim and was treated as a son by the aging Smith. A series of difficult harvests and an active war on the outskirts of the territory lead to hard times in the city. A vicious crime lord, Dranag, began to take control of the streets and demanded a tithe from local shops to prevent any undue damage to their property. The City Watch, beleaguered by low recruitment and increasing crime had few resources to stop him. Jaichim attempted to organize a local militia to stand up to Dranag and assist the City Watch in his capture. Jaichim was ambushed by several of Dranag's underlings and despite killing several of his attacker's he was eventually overwhelmed. Jaichim's body was nailed to a post in the city square in an attempt by Dranag to dissuade any further resistance. Upon learning of his master's death Daos went into a rage. He armed himself with the weapons he had forged and trained with for so many years and set out to seek his vengeance. Daos managed to approach the building used by Dranag as his base of operations relatively unnoticed. By a stroke of luck Daos found Dranag's base to be largely unprotected. He quickly cut through the minimal guard as he savagely butchered his way to Dranag's door. As he kicked the door open, Daos was bludgeoned by a hidden guard. Dranag tied Daos to a chair and began explaining with pleasure all of the horrible things that were about to happen to him. Just as the situation began to look hopeless, a group of the City Watch smashed into the room. After hearing of Daos's rampage and of the death of Jaichim, the aging commander Darvin managed to gather his best men and mount a final offensive on Dranag. In a quick but brutal skirmish, Dranag and his men were overwhelmed and held by Darvin's. As Daos was untied, he rose quickly grabbing a sword out of the scabbard of a nearby guard and struck Dranag's head from his shoulder's in one strike. After initial shock of the moment, Darvin quickly grabbed Daos and told him he must leave the city to avoid arrest and any retaliation by the rest of Dranag's men. He told Daos the name of an old friend and commander of the mercenary group "The Lost Legion" with instructions to seek him out and join him. Daos left his home and quickly worked his way up the ranks to become a respected young officer in one of the most feared mercenary force in the surrounding region. Headstrong and ferocious in battle he had a reputation for being intimidating and as a result maintained few close friends. A young Half-Orc named Darmok sympathized with Daos's anger and quickly became one of his closest companions. After leading his group on a scouting mission his men were ambushed by a large group of goblins lead by a large Bugbear. Outnumbered, Daos's men fought with the same ferocity they saw in their leader and held their own for as long as they were able. Daos found himself surrounded by several Goblin fighters and had to watch in horror as Darmok was skewered by the Bugbear. He quickly smashed through the group and charged the massive beast. In a leaping attack he buried his sword into its shoulder and split him nearly in half. After witnessing this, the remaining Goblins fled leaving Daos and his handful of remaining men. Daos instructed his men to gather up the dead and to construct the funeral pyres necessary to give them a proper send off. Full of emptiness due to the loss of his friend, Daos began to resent the life of a soldier and was no longer able to justify his continued involvement. He left the mercenary group and descended into a spiral of drink and brawls. His wayward journey lead him to the outskirts of Yohnbehr where he was ambushed by a group of bandits. Nearly a year of alcoholic indulgence had left Daos a shell of a man and he was easily bested by the group. Left beaten and nearly dead Daos began to accept his end. Until a pair of elves happened across him and managed to heal his wounds. He was taken in and after his recuperation drafted into the local town watch after much insistence by the group's Cleric, Lia. He now has a somewhat renewed purpose in his goal to protect Lia and the rest of the group in an effort to regain a sense of purpose. (Character Stats) Nex Addo (Sorcerer - Wild Mage) Nex Addo's life was very ritualistic: wake up, drink a pint of ale, brutally separate a human's skin from his bones and keep the skull, sleep like a baby. He had zero qualms about the grotesque ways in which he ended those soldiers' lives, because he had seen what these monsters did in the name of good. His friends and family were beheaded in front of him, he witnessed dozens of children slaughtered and knew many more would meet the same fate, and those that survived lived in a constant state of fear. Drow were taught at an early age to kill, many too young to understand what was happening around them. Their innocence had been stolen, their childhood robbed, and for that they must pay. Nex had become famous for his charming spells, tricking the soldiers into killing each other, then using his trusty daggers, Caro and Cruor, to make quick work of the remainder. Despite his swiftness in battle, their deaths were never quick. Their last minutes were filled with suffering and anguish, just as Nex spent his life. At least this way, he rationalized, their God will look on them with favor when they feel what he had felt. Until he met him. During one of his ambush runs, Nex encountered a convoy of soldiers delivering supplies to nearby camps. The attack was textbook and went off without a hitch. As the bodies bled out, Nex turned his attention to the spoils too see what he could salvage, but his looting was cut short by the muffled whimper of a child. Inside the wagon of weapons and supplies was a youngling, round nose and stout body, yet short with dark skin, and pointy ears. No doubt about it, he was half-human and half-drow. Within him Nex saw the innocence of both of their races, that a Drow was able to find love in a human, and they in turn accepted them for who they were. Perhaps there was more to this creatures, perhaps an endless war was not their only option. Realizing he had been staring into the eyes of a very traumatized child for some time now, Nex opened his mouth to speak. "My deepest apologies, my child. This war has corrupted my mind to the point all I know is bloodshed. What is your name?" The child merely trembles, unable to speak. Nex looked to the ground hoping to quell the pain in his heart. "I understand. I know of a nearby abandoned wagon that will hold the rest of your entourage so that they may have a proper ceremony. Do you know how to get home?" He nodded. "Very well. I shall fetch it. There are still many more dangers in the forest, but you need not fear me anymore." From that day forward, Nex devoted his life to doing right by the child, and he would start with his camp. Upon arriving home, he immediately requested an audience with the elders. Once granted, he recounted his tales with great anguish, and how there was hope for man and drow to coexist in harmony; for if one could love a human, all could tolerate them. The elders, however, were not as optimistic, and deemed him weak from years of solitary fighting and a sympathizer to the enemy. Nex was exiled from his community and everyone he had ever known. Heartbroken, he wandered into the forest in no real direction at all. Months had passed, and this brokenness had turned into bitterness, growing disdain for all living things. Before his soul had a chance to completely corrupt, he happened upon a tiny village named Yohnber, where he was greeted by a kindly elf named Kline. Seeing how accepted he was among this human village and how he had started a family, Nex agreed to stay and offered his services as a guard to the town. Nex hoped to one day have a life like his, though he knew it would forever allude him. As the years passed, Nex numbed these longings with the friendship of two elves, Enna and Lia, who had also come to call Yohnber home. Though they saw him as their grumpy grandfather, as he was four times their age, he had learned to enjoy their quirks. That is until he meet Daos. Daos was yet another one of Lia's pets that she had dragged home with her, only this stood on two legs, covered in armor, and carried a shield, a shield he knew all too well. In the center was a symbol he had seen time and time again; it was the emblem of the mercenaries he fought in The Lantern Wars. All at once the memories flooded his mind: the bloody disembodied heads, the screams echoing in the forest, the eyes of the half elf child. His very sight filled him with unrelenting rage to the point that it that took two men to subdue him. Daos' oath of servitude to Lia, and by extension Yohnber, was the only thing keeping Nex from sticking his head on a pike. But he would need to learn to trust and depend on these three heroes if he were to survive the trials that lay before him... (Character Stats) Lia Galanodel (Cleric - Death Domain) I was sent by my parents to the temple of Scourge in the forest high of the Steel Mountains when I was around 50 years old. I was taught the many scriptures and the rituals used to please my God. At such a young age I decided the best way honor this wonderful deity was by trickery. The most effective way, to my young mind, was to misquote the verses and give false rituals to the parishioners. This went on for many years, all the while irritating my elders to no end. On my 85th birthday the temple elders had me branded a heretic and sent me into exile, claiming I had enraged Scourge and was no longer welcome in his temple. For around a year or so I attempted to take care of myself in the woods for the first time. At such a tender age, I was weak and could not fight back against thieves and other attackers. I would let them steal my things and leave. I became quite proficient in healing myself after these encounters. One day, a kind Wood Elf Ranger was scouting through the woods when she came across my camp. She realized how miserable I was and decided to let me accompany on her journey down the mountains. I came to know this elf as Enna, she became like a wise elder sister and protector. We worked well together she would hunt for our meals and protect us from any harm, while I healed any wounds she may have incurred. Over the next 4 years we did our best to avoid the nasty mountain Dwarves, and eventually stumbled upon a trade route. This trade route led us safely down the mountains and in to the foothills to a town called Yohnber. For the next 10 years we lived in the barracks and protected this quaint little town from bandits. I was on patrol one day when I see this intriguing looking Human. This is the first non fur trader human I have seen, so I watched him for a bit. The way he was staggering a bit and yelling at the group of bandits outside the town limits fascinated me. It seemed both brave and pretty stupid, I realized he was trying to start a fight I knew he wouldn't win. I ran to get Enna and our partner Nex to assist. By the time we all made it back he had been killed and the bandits had left. Nex and Enna headed back to the barracks seeing nothing for them to do at this point, yet I was fascinated by his ruggedness, and amused at his stupidity. I decided I wanted to get to know him, so my mind was made up and I resurrected him. I explained to him what had happened and he informed me he owed me a life debt and would protect me from now on. Upon bringing him back to the Barracks to meet our crew, Enna just shook her head, for I was always bringing home strays of some sort. Daos has now joined us in our expeditions and has become a valued meat shield against many large foe. He always makes sure that I am safe and never harmed. I plan on keeping him forever. UPDATE: As I explore being an adventurer I have of course matured along the way. I now see that my childish ways of trickery are not as funny as I once assumed. I also started to doubt my gods favor due to my personality changing. There was one day that shifted my faith in particular.While helping my group in a sticky situation in a tomb, I found an interesting book. This particular tome was about the worship and rites of the God of Death, I was intrigued and decided to read it back at the inn. However when we left the tomb the young boy helping to guide us was killed, it was my fault! I had told him to wait for us, to keep watch, and to alert us to any curious people wandering around. I did not mean for it to happen, I honestly did not believe he would be in any danger. We carried his body back to his master and I observed the care and rites performed in honor of the Death God. The kind Master told me a bit about his God and how he is merciful and just to those that follow his practice. A few days later I was bitten by a filthy were-rat. With my faith wavering I was granted no favors from Scourge, the only ones able to help me were the kind clerics at a temple for Death. With my growing curiosity of this Deity I showed them the tome I had found and expressed my interest in altering my faith, they agreed to train me. I worked tirelessly for days trying to absorb all I could from them. Being truly neutral as my new God, I do not decide who lives or dies. I do however always ask for his favor when we are in trouble. As I continue to grow in my new religion I have discovered interesting ...side effects... to my new found faith. I have been told, by my girl friend (hehe), that when I get distressed or angry my eyes change. They apparently change to red with my pupil showing the sigil of Death, ya its pretty cool if you ask me. Live life fully so that you may continue your journey to the after life with no regrets. (Character Stats)